The first
transgender woman to compete in the global Miss Universe
pageant wants to make history as a role model for trans
children around the globe – no matter whether she wins
or not the top beauty title.

The 26-year-old Angela Ponce beat 20 other contestants
in the Miss Universe Spain gala in June 2018, qualifying
for the global round of the pageant, which has allowed
transgender participation since 2012.

The location and dates for this year’s contest have yet
to be announced. But Ponce is already planning to use it
as a platform to draw attention toward high rates of
suicides among trans teenagers, as well as legal codes
that still discriminate against them around the world.

“If my going through all this contributes to the world
moving a little step forward, then that’s a personal
crown that will always accompany me,” Ponce said.

In July
2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the
creation of a “Religious Liberty Task Force” at the
Justice Department.

Sessions announced the task force in a speech where he
said that Donald Trump’s election has given the right a
“rare opportunity” to stop a “dangerous movement,
undetected by many” that is eroding religious freedom.

Sessions mentioned Jack Phillips three times. Phillips
is the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, which took a case
to the Supreme Court recently to ask for a religious
exemption to Colorado’s antidiscrimination law so that
it could refuse to serve a gay couple.

But while conservatives prefer to talk about cases
involving cake, the Trump Administration announced in
January 2018 a new Department of Health and Human
Services initiative to advance doctors’, nurses’, and
other medical workers’ “religious freedom” to refuse to
help LGBTQ people.

“This taxpayer funded task force is yet another example
of the Trump-Pence White House and Jeff Sessions
sanctioning discrimination against LGBTQ people,” said
HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “Over the last 18
months, Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Jeff Sessions have
engaged in a brazen campaign to erode and limit the
rights of LGBTQ people in the name of religion. The
Attorney General standing shoulder-to-shoulder this
morning with anti-LGBTQ extremists tells you everything
you need to know about what today’s announcement was
really all about.”

Israel's
Knesset advanced a bill in June 2018 banning sexual
orientation and gender identity discrimination. The bill
widens the scope of current anti-discrimination law.
Under the amendment, wherever Israeli law refers to
discrimination, it would also mean discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. "In view
of the changes that have occurred in Israeli law since
1992, and in view of the frequent attacks on the LGBTQ
community owing to sexual orientation or gender identity
in the form of discrimination and harassment, the time
has come to amend the interpretation law beyond the
legal meaning,” reads the explanation to the bill.

Janelle
Monáe is further opening up about her sexuality.
Movie fans know her from her roles in the films
Hidden Figures and Moonlight. And, while she
is an accomplished movie actor, she first came to fame
as an R&B singer and rapper.

The
32-year-old singer, who released her new album Dirty
Computer in April 2018, spoke to CBS This Morning
about how her late mentor Prince influenced how she
wants to portray her sexuality in music and in the
public eye.

“I think that it’s important for people to be proud of
their identity. I am very proud to be a queer young
black woman in America. I’m proud of who I am,” Monáe
said.

In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Monáe revealed
what it’s like “being a black queer woman in America”
and why she doesn’t identify as bisexual. Monae
has described herself as "someone who has been in
relationships with both men and women" and has further
identified as pansexual.

Last year
was the deadliest on record for LGBTQ people, but you
wouldn’t know that based on news coverage. According to
a new report from press watchdog Media Matters, cable
and broadcast news spent less than 40 minutes across
seven networks covering anti-LGBTQ violence, despite a
year of unprecedented attacks.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP)
reported an 86 percent spike in anti-LGBTQ homicides in
2017, the worst the organization ever recorded. (The
Pulse Nightclub shooting is not included in the tally.)
Over the course of the entire year, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox
Broadcasting Co, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC only discussed
anti-LGBTQ violence 22 times, according to the report.

Fox News topped the list with 10 minutes and 21 seconds
devoted to coverage of anti-LGBTQ violence. But most of
that coverage (7 and a half minutes) was actually a
single segment. CBS devoted 8 minutes and 29 seconds to
coverage of anti-LGBTQ violence. Fox Broadcasting Co.
fell to the bottom of the list with none at all, while
other networks hovered in-between. ABC hosted just
one discussion of anti-LGBTQ violence. CNN did four
times, but only linked it to a trend of violence against
LGBTQ people once.

The report
comes amid the most shocking NCAVP anti-LGBTQ violence
numbers to date. NCAVP reported 52 hate-related
homicides last year alone. Transgender people accounted
for 27 of those murders. People of color made up
two-thirds of the victims in the report. The report
notes, “The lack of coverage for anti-LGBTQ violence
also comes at a time when acceptance for LGBTQ people is
reportedly declining. For the most part, networks
discussed isolated incidents, failing to link them to a
growing threat of anti-LGBTQ violence."

It has
also been noted that anti-LGBTQ hate groups have been
mainstreamed over the last year. President Trump
keynoted the annual event of an anti-LGBTQ hate group
last year when he spoke at the Values Voters Summit, and
he has championed a rollback of LGBTQ rights.

Gus
Kenworthy was terrified about the consequences of coming
out as gay in 2015 but the American skier says that his
decision prompted a huge outpouring of unexpected
support and has allowed him to compete without the
weight of the world on his shoulders. Kenworthy, an
Olympic silver medal winner in the ski slopestyle at
Sochi, came out in a cover story for ESPN The Magazine
to become the first openly gay action sports athlete.

“I had set myself up for the worst case scenario,” he
said. “I thought I was going to be turned against and
become this pariah.” Kenworthy had already told his
close family and friends, who were all very supportive.
Their support, along with a desire to be an inspiration
for other young men and women scared to come out as
homosexual, drove Kenworthy to make the decision. “I
knew I would feel so much better because I was being
authentic and maybe it would help kids going through the
same transition as me,” said Kenworthy.

“I thought it would maybe help other people, either in
professional sports or amateur sports or even just in
communities where they felt isolated and scared to be
themselves.” Within minutes of the news breaking,
Kenworthy’s telephone was blowing up. “I had so much
support coming in and so my phone just couldn’t handle
it and I couldn’t handle it either,” he said. “I was
crying and it is quite a weird sensation to set yourself
up for one outcome and then get the total opposite.”

Kenworthy says his decision has led to a change in what
he calls his “headspace” going into competitions.
Instead of compartmentalizing his life he is able to be
himself and this has contributed to a greater sense of
freedom and confidence. The change means Kenworthy is
more confident than ever heading into the Pyeongchang
Winter Games in February 2018. “I am more open with
everyone in my life and I think it just translates into
me being able to ski a little bit more freely and not
have so much to focus on and worry about,” he added.

Despite his achievements on the slopes, Kenworthy is
known by many as the "gay skier." Instead of shying away
from the tag, Kenworthy has embraced it and hopes to
serve as an inspiration for lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and queer people (LGBTQ) around the world.
If, as Kenworthy says, he can be a gay man at the top of
the world, an Olympic gold medallist, then it would
prove a lot of people wrong.

”The Olympics is a cool opportunity to represent our
country, which is amazing, but I have another community
I am competing for and that is the LGBTQ community.
There are all these stereotypes and stigmas that people
have associated in their mind over time but nothing
breaks barriers down more than visibility or
representation.

”Having someone at the Olympics, the pinnacle event in
sports, competing against the best in the world and
being out and proud and gay and getting a medal, it
would be amazing. There is pressure that comes with this
responsibility and I feel I have a responsibility to the
LGBTQ community now. I want to lead by example and I
want to be a positive example and an inspiration for any
kids that I can.”

The US
Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Dec 5, 2017 in
a case that could have huge ramifications for freedom of
speech and protections against discrimination. But it
all began with a same-sex couple who just wanted a
special wedding cake.

In 2012, Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips
pointed to his conservative Christian beliefs in
refusing to make a custom wedding cake for Colorado
couple Charlie Craig and David Mullins.

On one side of the case is the state of Colorado and its
public accommodations law barring discrimination against
customers based on their race, religion, gender or
sexual orientation. On the other side is a baker who is
morally opposed to same-sex marriage and refuses to
create cakes for same-sex wedding receptions.

Businesses
are saying no to "religious freedom" laws and lawmakers
are listening. The Kentucky House of Representatives is
swerving away from a freedom-to-hate bill, thanks in
part to businesses pushing back. House Bill 372 would
have given churches and religious organizations the
right to ignore the municipal LGBTQ protections now in
nine Kentucky cities.

The original bill had 46 sponsors among 100 state
representatives. But State Rep. Jason Nemes, a
Louisville Republican, has led a rewrite of the bill,
the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The proposed
legislation now only clarifies that churches and
ministers can cite religious objections and not provide
weddings for same-sex couples. Federal law already
allows church leaders to decline to marry anyone; the
issue was already settled in a 2015 US Supreme Court
decision.

Among the Kentucky cities with civil-rights protections
for LGBTQ people are Louisville, with a quarter of the
state’s population, Lexington, with the University of
Kentucky, and Frankfort, the state capital. In January,
Paducah became the first city in western Kentucky to do
so. However, Kentucky may be seeing what other states
have learned — that businesses can pay dearly for such
religious-freedom legislation that allows LGBTQ
discrimination.

Dave Adkisson, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
president, said his members with out-of-state business
oppose the legislation. “They had concerns, frankly,
about how it would appear to those outside Kentucky if
we seemed to be discriminating against any one
particular group,” Adkisson said.

Indiana, to the north, led by then Gov. Mike Pence, and
North Carolina, to the southeast, have both felt the
financial pinch after anti-LGBTQ campaigns in their
statehouses.

And Kentucky is already on the no-travel list for
state-funded travel from California after it passed 2017
legislation that allowed student groups to discriminate
against LGBTQ people. When California attorney general
Xavier Becerra, announced the ban in January 2017,
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s press secretary, Woody
Maglinger, had denounced it as “far-left political
ideology."

In contrast, Louisville’s mayor, Greg Fischer, a public
supporter of LGBTQ rights, had pleaded that his city —
home of the Kentucky Derby and considerable convention
business — be exempted. It wasn’t.

As of June 2017, the California ban had already cost the
city $2 million in future revenue.

Meanwhile, Kentucky is embroiled in other controversy.
The state’s Republican governor, Matt Bevin, who had
signed last year’s anti-LGBTQ legislation, has made a
controversial push to slash pensions of state employees.
Those employees include public-school teachers, who are
now protesting in the capital.

With Bevin’s battle raging, statehouse Republicans may
have been hoping this anti-LGBTQ legislation would give
them momentum going into the fall elections, Louisville
Democratic Representative Joni Jenkins said. “Honestly,
I haven’t heard any outrage from any of the churches in
my district about having to participate in anyone’s
weddings,” Jenkins said, “so I don’t know what problem
this is supposed to be solving.”

A nationwide survey
on the legalization of same-sex marriage in Australia
came back with sweeping support on November 15, 2017,
ending a month-long campaign for equality that has
stoked widespread anxiety in the country’s LGBTQ
community. The issue will now go to the Australian
Parliament. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promised
an official vote to legalize marriage equality by the
end of the year.

In the survey, 61.6 percent of Australians voted yes and
38.4 percent voted no. More than 12.7 million people
responded to the voluntary postal survey, a nationwide
response rate of nearly 80 percent.

“They voted yes to fairness. They voted yes to
commitment. They voted yes to love,” Turnbull said at a
press conference in Canberra following the vote. “It is
up to us, here in the Parliament in Australia to get on
with it. This was an unprecedented exercise in
democracy.”

Most members of the Australian parliament (some 70
percent in both houses) have said they will vote yes on
a same-sex marriage vote were the results from the
survey to come back with a “yes,” according to a survey
from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Trans woman Danica Roem
(D) just defeated anti-LGBTQ candidate Bob Marshall (R)
in Virginia. The man who wrote the anti-trans
bathroom bill just lost the election to a trans woman.
Let that sink in.

Virginia’s most
socially conservative state lawmaker was ousted from
office on Nov 7, 2017 by Danica Roem, a Democrat, who
will be one of the nation’s first openly transgender
elected officials and who embodies much of what Bob
Marshall fought against in Richmond.

Danica Roem defeated
incumbent Republican Bob Marshall, 73, on having
campaigned on a platform of social inclusion as well as
local issues, such as building up infrastructure and job
creation. it also exposed the nation’s fault lines over
gender identity.

The race pitted a
33-year-old former journalist who began her physical
gender transition four years ago against a 13-term
incumbent who called himself Virginia’s “chief
homophobe” and earlier this year introduced a “bathroom
bill” that died in committee.

“Discrimination is a disqualifier,” a jubilant Roem
said. “This is about the people of the 13th District,
disregarding fear tactics, disregarding phobias, where
we celebrate you because of who you are, not despite
it.”

California Governor Jerry
Brown signed first-of-its kind legislation in October
2017 that enables residents of the state to choose a
third, non-binary gender category on California
state-issued IDs, birth certificates and driver’s
licenses.

The Gender Recognition Act (Senate Bill 179) also
reportedly makes the process of an individual changing
their gender on legal documents easier by no longer
requiring a statement from a physican declaring that
they’ve undergone “clinical treatment.”

“As the LGBTQ community, but especially the trans
community, is under assault in this country, California
needs to go in the opposite direction and embrace the
trans community and support the trans community and
modernize these laws,” State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San
Francisco), who co-sponsored the bill alongside Sen.
Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), said in a statement.

While Oregon and Washington DC have undergone steps to
make it easier for citizens to legally identify as
non-binary, California is the first to enshrine a third
gender category into law.

A number of other countries already have or are in the
process of passing legislation that allows citizens to
legally identify outside of the gender binary, including
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, England, Pakistan, and
Nepal.

Edith Windsor, the famous LGBTQ advocate
who fought the Defense Of Marriage Act, died on
September 12, 2017, at the age of 88.

Edith Windsor loved Thea Spyer. For
nearly half a century, the two were partners and
eventually were legally married as well. When Spyer died
in 2009, though, the federal government didn't recognize
that love on Windsor's tax forms, expecting her to pay
more than $350,000 in estate taxes. That is, until Windsor fought the law
that did not recognize that marriage — and won.

Judith Kasen-Windsor, whom Windsor
married last year, confirmed her death in a statement.
"I lost my beloved spouse Edie, and the world lost a
tiny but tough as nails fighter for freedom, justice and
equality," she said. "Edie was the light of my life. She
will always be the light for the LGBTQ community which
she loved so much and which loved her right back."

Barack Obama issued the following
statement: "America’s long journey towards equality has
been guided by countless small acts of persistence, and
fueled by the stubborn willingness of quiet heroes to
speak out for what’s right. I had the privilege to speak
with Edie a few days ago, and to tell her one more time
what a difference she made to this country we love. She
was engaged to her partner, Thea, for forty years. After
a wedding in Canada, they were married for less than
two. But federal law didn’t recognize a marriage like
theirs as valid – which meant that they were denied
certain federal rights and benefits that other married
couples enjoyed. And when Thea passed away, Edie spoke
up – not for special treatment, but for equal treatment
– so that other legally married same-sex couples could
enjoy the same federal rights and benefits as anyone
else."

A
coalition of over 150 evangelical leaders released a
manifesto on August 29, 2017 reiterating their belief
that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Titled the “Nashville Statement,” the document also
asserts that God created two distinct sexes, that sex
should only occur within the bounds of heterosexual
marriage, and that “it is sinful to approve of
homosexual immorality or transgenderism.”

The statement emerged out of a meeting convened by the
Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood on Friday at
the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious
Liberty Commission’s annual conference in Nashville. It
consists of 14 statements of affirmation and denial
relating to human sexuality.

For
instance, Article 7 of the statement reads: "We affirm
that self-conception as male or female should be defined
by God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption as
revealed in Scripture. We deny that adopting a
homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent
with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption."

Among the signers were many prominent and influential
evangelical leaders, including Steve Gaines, president
of the Southern Baptist Convention, Russell Moore,
president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission, Albert Mohler, president of the Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary, and Tony Perkins,
president of the Family Research Council. Perkins was
also reportedly one of the architect’s behind President
Trump’s ban on transgender service members.

India’s
Supreme Court has given the country’s gay, lesbian,
bisexual, trans and queer community the freedom to
safely express their sexual orientation. In a historic
decision on August 24, 2017, the nine-judge panel
declared that an individual’s sexual orientation is
protected under the country’s Right to Privacy law.

“Sexual orientation is an essential attribute of
privacy,” the decision reads. “Discrimination against an
individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply
offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the
individual. Equality demands that the sexual orientation
of each individual in society must be protected on an
even platform.”

Although the Supreme Court did not directly overturn any
laws criminalizing same-sex relationships, the language
of the court decision offers hope to the LGBTQ
community. The judges expressly state sexual orientation
falls under an individual’s right to privacy, a
constitutional right, and that no individual should be
discriminated against based on their orientation.

Going forward, this can establish a precedent as
organizations challenge discriminatory laws in court,
and offer protection against discrimination in places
such as the workforce.

This could even deliver a death blow to an oppressive
and controversial law in the Indian Penal Code. Section
377 is a law that limits a citizen’s right to express
their gender identity or sexual orientation in
consensual relationships. In 2013, another panel of the
Supreme Court upheld Section 377.

On June
26, 2017, President Donald Trump declared that
transgender people weren’t fit to serve in any branch of
the armed service in any capacity, citing a strain and
distraction to the United States military readiness. His
exact words were:

“After consultation with my generals and military
experts, please be advised that the United States
Government will not accept or allow transgender
individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military.
Our military must be focused on decisive and
overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the
tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender
in the military would entail.”

The vote came days after Chancellor Angela Merkel
signaled that she was open to changing Germany’s
marriage laws to include same-sex couples, prompting a
hurried push from opposition lawmakers to pass the
so-called marriage-for-all legislation.

Merkel’s ruling coalition had long opposed a vote on
same-sex marriage, an issue that is divisive among her
conservative bloc. But during an interview on Monday
with German women’s magazine Brigitte, Merkel said she
was open to members of her coalition voting their
conscience, rather than holding the party line.

Merkel’s shift came after she visited a lesbian couple
raising eight foster children. She called her dinner
with the family “a life-changing experience” and said
she realized her party’s arguments against same-sex
marriage were no longer valid.

Polls show that a strong majority of German voters favor
same-sex marriage. A Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency
survey earlier this year showed 83 percent of Germans
support it.

Germany has allowed civil partnerships since 2001. But
unlike many neighboring countries, it has lacked full
same-sex marriage equality. A growing number of
countries in Europe have legalized same-sex marriage,
including Finland and Slovenia this year. Italy remains
among European states that permit only civil unions and
do not grant full rights afforded to married couples.

“Sesame
Street” sent a heartfelt message to LGBTQ people as
cities across the US celebrated National LGBTQ Pride
Month. On June 23, 2017, the classic children’s TV
series tweeted a photograph that featured seven of its
beloved characters, including Elmo, posed to form a
rainbow. the accompanying message read, "Sesame
Street is proud to support families of all shapes,
sizes, and colors."

On
May 24, 2017, Taiwan’s constitutional court declared
that same-sex couples have the right to legally marry,
the first such ruling in Asia, sparking celebration by
activists who have been campaigning for the right for
years.

The court, known as the Judicial Yuan, said current
marriage laws were “in violation of both the people’s
freedom of marriage and the people’s right to equality”,
and it gave two years for legal amendments to allow
same-sex marriage. “If relevant laws are not amended or
enacted within the said two years, two persons of the
same sex who intend to create the said permanent union
shall be allowed to have their marriage registration
effectuated,” the court said.

Hundreds of supporters of same-sex marriage gathered in
the street next to the island’s parliament to celebrate
the decision, holding colorful umbrellas to ward off a
drizzle. “This ruling has made me very happy,” said Chi
Chia-wei, a veteran gay rights activist who had
petitioned the court to take up the issue. The ruling
clearing the way for same-sex marriage is the first in
Asia, where socially conservative attitudes largely hold
sway.

The LGBTQ community was enjoying a growing wave of
support, although admittedly it had a long way still to
go. Marriage equality had been won, nondiscrimination
ordinances were becoming more common, and it appeared as
if the momentum was on our side.
Then America elected Donald Trump to become our 45th
president. Since then, that progress has looked more in
danger than it has in years. For younger people, the
turn can be particularly upsetting.

“After the election it became clear to me that young
people needed our help more than ever,” reports Amit
Paley, the new CEO of The Trevor Project, whose suicide
prevention hotline has seen a noted increase in call
volume. LGBTQ youth attempt and commit suicide at a
higher percentage than their heterosexual and cisgender
peers. “The day after the presidential election the
Trevor Project’s call volume doubled, and there has been
an increase in calls since then,” he said.

In
May, Paley reported, The Trevor Project’s Lifeline
received more calls than in its entire 19-year history.
“The policies of this administration, no doubt about it,
are directly harming young LGBTQ people,” Paley told The
Daily Beast. “What’s so upsetting and shocking for them
is that up until this point they had been growing up in
a time of increasing acceptance and tolerance. Our
mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ young people, and
we are concerned by any activities that might reverse
the progress we have made.”

“There are more people feeling in crisis and more people
reaching out for help,” said Paley. “When the president
of the United States and politicians in positions of
power stand up and make LGBTQ people feel less-than, or
make them feel their rights are being taken away from
them, that has a significant impact on their self-worth.
That’s our reason to be here: to say that no matter what
anyone in Washington says, you are worthy, you are
loved, you have dignity, and you are who you are and who
you love does not lessen you as a person.”

Most
Americans don’t think religious-based discrimination
should be lawful. The tide is turning in support of more
open policies toward the LBGTQ community.

In June 2017, the governor of Texas signed into law a
bill that allows faith-based adoption groups to deny
services “under circumstances that conflict with the
provider’s sincerely held religious beliefs.” Critics,
including the ACLU of Texas, say the new law could
likely be used to discriminate against LGBTQ families in
adoptions. This law
is similar to those passed in Mississippi and Tennessee
which also legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people
based on religious convictions.

In March
2016, the Tennessee legislature introduced a bill
allowing counselors to refuse to provide mental health
care services to anyone who violates their “sincerely
held religious beliefs,” including beliefs about LGBTQ
people. That bill did pass and was signed into
law.

A number of Christian groups and outlets applauded the
bills passed in Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. But
according to a new report by the Public Religion
Research Institute, support for religiously based
service refusals is quickly declining. PRRI’s report,
based on a survey of roughly 40,000 interviews, found
that more than six in ten Americans oppose allowing
small business owners in their state to refuse to
provide goods and services to gay or lesbian people on
religious grounds.

White evangelical Protestants continue to be the faith
group most in favor of religiously motivated
discrimination, though even among that group support has
dropped. In 2015, 56 percent of white evangelicals were
in favor of allowing business owners to deny services to
gay and lesbian people. In 2016, the number had dropped
to 50 percent.

Kim Davis
is the county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who
gained international attention in August 2015 when she
defied a US federal court order to issue marriage
licenses to same-sex couples, following the June 26,
2015, US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Davis, who has been married four times, reacted to the
decision by denying marriage licenses to all couples,
saying she was acting "under God's authority". Her
defiance led to her being jailed, while both supporters
and detractors hotly debated her stance in the national
media. Marriage licenses in Rowan County are now being
issued to all citizens as required by law.

Davis was
elected county clerk in 2014 and promised to follow the
statutes of the office. A few months later, Obergefell
v. Hodges was decided and all county clerks were ordered
to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Davis
refused, citing her religious opposition to same-sex
marriage. Couples represented by the American Civil
Liberties Union who had been denied marriage licenses
from Davis filed and won a lawsuit against her, Miller
v. Davis, and she was ordered to start issuing marriage
licenses by the US District Court. Her lawyers tried to
appeal to the US Supreme Court, but the application to
appeal was denied. Davis continued to defy the court
order, refusing to issue marriage licenses, and was
ultimately jailed for contempt of court. She was
released from jail five days later, under the condition
that she not interfere with the efforts of her deputy
clerks, who had started issuing marriage licenses to all
couples. Davis then modified the Kentucky marriage
licenses to no longer mention her name.

Attorney and author Roberta A. Kaplan described Davis as
"the clearest example of someone who wants to use a
religious liberty argument to discriminate." Republican
presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that Davis'
imprisonment was part of the "criminalization of
Christianity." Columnist Jennifer Rubin compared Davis'
refusal to obey the decision of the US Supreme Court to
Alabama Governor George Wallace's "Stand in the
Schoolhouse Door" in 1963.